1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a solid state skate truck and, more particularly, to a virtually one-piece, injection molded, plastic, truck which solves the problems encountered heretofore in metal and rubber trucks.
2. Description of the Prior Art
At the present time, combination axle and axle steering assemblies, commonly and herein referred to as trucks for skateboards, roller skates, and the like, consist of built-up assemblies of as many as ten to twelve metal, rubber and plastic parts. Because of these many parts and the wear that they are subjected to, the parts break and wear out and must be replaced and must constantly be adjusted and readjusted. Manufacturing costs run high due to the variety of parts required and the labor required to manufacture the assemblies.
Because of the pivoting required to steer a skateboard, roller skates, or the like, the various metal parts are connected by a rubber washer, the compression of which changes due to wear and fatigue. This being the case, it is almost impossible to continuously predict how a truck including a rubber washer is going to react. As a result, skates including cnventional trucks ride in an unpredictable way.
Skates utilizing conventional trucks are subject to high speed wobble. That is, the rear truck will actually shimmy if the truck parts are too loose and, in an extreme case, the wobble will cause the rear of the skate to kick away from the rider. If the truck parts are very tight, wobble can be eliminated, but this cuts down the rider's maneuverability. Therefore, it is virtually impossible to adjust a conventional truck so as to be simultaneously stable and extremely maneuverable. Constant adjustment and readjustment is required to reach a satisfactory compromise between these two factors.
Skates with conventional trucks vibrate from road and surface irregularities. This occurs because there are solid metal parts holding other solid metal parts together. As a result, the vibration from the wheels is transferred directly to the board, which vibrations are felt by the rider.
Part of skatboarding is to slide along on the axle hub over a narrow surface, like the edge of a curb or the coping in a pool, with the wheels either straddling the surface or not touching anything at all. However, since the majority of trucks are made of metal, when the metal hits the concrete, there is a high coefficient of friction and the metal does not slide over the concrete easily. This being the case, some skateboard trucks come with a separate plastic clip which is attached to the axle hub so that the hub slides smoothly over surfaces without heavy friction problems. However, this requires the addition of a separate part.
Other problems exist with conventional trucks. They can corrode, because they include multiple metal parts they have significant weight, they do not have extreme impact resistance, and they can break without warning.
In spite of the extreme popularity of skateboarding, roller skating and the like and the awareness of the skate industry with these many problems associated with conventional trucks, no practical solution to these problems has been suggested heretofore. Obviously, the problem of constant adjustment of the truck parts could be solved by making a metal truck with no rubber washers and no adjusting screws. However, such a truck would break easily, ride very rough, and give little or no manueverability. High speed wobble in metal trucks could only be solved by solid connections to the axle hub or extreme tightening of the kingpin, both of which would reduce or totally eliminate any maneuverability. No solutions are known to the other problems discussed.